Can I See the Ring?
by thinking in blue
Summary: Summary: Raven can pretend to be nonchalant about this whole engagement thing all she wants, but Starfire's not buying it. RobRae


Raven swore, Starfire had some kind of sixth sense that told her everything about her love life. Raven never had to tell her anything that happened, she just somehow _knew. _It was all in her body language, Star told her once. Apparently, she held herself differently every time something romantic happened to her. For example, after she kissed Nightwing, then Robin, for the first time, and as a result started to fall hopelessly in love with him, Starfire picked up on it before she could say anything, because she "had a softer look on her face", and because she'd been avoiding her.

(Raven remembers how scared she was about her finding out. She and Robin had such strong feelings for each other when they were younger. What if she was angry? But she said that was water under the bridge, and that she was just happy her friend had found love. She sounded so sweet and genuine about it, and Raven wondered why she'd been scared in the first place.)

Now that she and Nightwing are actually engaged, like she's been not so subtly telling them they should be for the past year, she'll probably tell her she's standing up straighter or something.

So while it's definitely off-putting, it's not at all unexpected that when they met at that little café they always have lunch at on Sundays, she starts squealing incoherently, and traps her in an unintentionally suffocating hug.

"YOU'RE ENGAGED YOU'RE ENGAGED YOU'RE ENGAGED! OH X'HAL, IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED! YOU AND NIGHTWING ARE TO BE MARRIED! I'M SO HAPPY, I AM CRYING THE TEARS OF JOY!"

"Starfire… can't… breathe." She manages to wheeze out, as her best friend slowly crushes her lungs.

She loosens her suffocating bear hug enough for her to get some air, but she doesn't let go. This hugging thing is going to go on for a while, "Oh, I am so glad for you both! This is wonderful news! When is the wedding? Have you selected a bridal gown? We must look at bridal gowns together Raven!"

"Can we eat first?" If she winds up going wedding dress shopping with Starfire today(which she imagines she's going to cajole her into doing, even if it's just 'to see what you'd look like as a bride'), she's going to need to get her energy up.

She beams, "Of course, but first let me see it."

"See what?" She asks, confused.

"The ring, silly. Let me see it."

"Oh, Uh… sure." She tentatively sticks out her hand. Before she can react, Starfire snatches at it, and her face melts, like it does every time they walk past that animal shelter on Main Street that kept a bunch of playful kittens in the window.

"It sparkles like the five moons of Plorgak." She coos.

"Uh… that's a good thing, right?" Sometimes she still doesn't understand Starfire's Tamaranean allusions.

"Yes, it is absolutely beautiful Raven."

"Uh.. thank you." She responds awkwardly. She's yet to come up with a satisfactory response for when people compliment the ring.

"So how did it happen?" She asks, "Tell me how Nightwing proposed."

"It really wasn't anything spectacular Star. You're probably going to be disappointed."

"Tell me everything anyway. I want to hear you re-count everything that happened, with explicit detail please."

"Uh.. okay then. Well, it was Tuesday evening, and we were washing dishes, like we normally do after dinner. I washed, he dried. I was telling him about this volume of poetry that's coming out soon that I thought he might like, and he-." She pauses, unsure how, or if, she wants to finish.

"Yes?"

"He uh… told me he loved me, and asked me to marry him. We bought the ring together two days later."

"Raven, the way you described it sounded perfect."

"It _did? _I thought you would've wanted something… grander." Starfire was into roses, champagne, and intense declarations of love, not impromptu dishwashing proposals

"It was grand! Don't you think it was grand?"

"Sure, it was… nice… a nice gesture, I guess."

There's a short silence.

"Raven."

"Hmm?"

"You have barely taken your eyes off your ring."

Instinctively, she stops looking at her ring. She hadn't even realized she was doing it.

"Sorry." She says.

"No, don't apologize. It's nice to see you like this."

"Like what Star?"

"Radiating with happiness."


End file.
